Iraqi Diplomacy Actively Involved in Including The City of Babylon on World Heritage List

In addition to the efforts to include the Iraqi archaeological sites on the World Heritage List, the issue of including the ancient city of Babylon will be discussed at the 43rd session of the Azerbaijani capital Baku with the participation of more than 180 countries.

As far as the Fireign Ministry is concerned, Iraqi diplomacy has done its utmost and continues to strive to achieve this goal, and has invested meetings and bilateral dialogues with the countries of the world to win the vote of the inclusion of Iraqi sites on the World Heritage List.

Foreign Minister Mr. Mohamad A. Alhakim sent a letter to his Azerbaijani counterpart and other counterparts in the voting committee’s member states, including a request for Iraq’s support to include the Babylonian file on the World Heritage List, based on UN General Assembly Resolution 69/281 of 2015 (to save Iraq’s cultural heritage) in addition to all the Iraqi embassies in the member states of the World Heritage Committee, the Permanent Representations of Iraq in New York, Geneva and others to mobilize support for this important issue .

The Minister directed the Department of International Organizations and Conferences in the Ministry to move on States that will have the right to vote, and they are 21 states to vote in favor of the inclusion of the ancient city of Babylon on the World Heritage list.
The Embassy of the Republic of Iraq in Baku held several meetings with accredited ambassadors of the member States of the Committee to describe the history of the ancient city of Babylon and its cultural heritage.

Foreign Ministry Official Spokesman
Dr. Ahmed Al-Sahaf
5/7/2019